No More Secrets
by Brittle Bullet
Summary: Naruto has just recently returned from training with Jiraiya.  While training on his own, he realizes something that would change the way he looked at a certain person forever.  NaruHina.
1. Chapter 1

_-Hey everyone, welcome to my second fan fiction to be posted on this site, and my first to have more than one chapter. Hope you enjoy it, and because of the great reviews of my last fic, I hope that this one will get great reviews as well._

_I do not own Naruto. If I did, I'd be swimming in a pool of money and ramen right now._

A bead of sweat formed on Naruto's flushed cheek.

_Training with Jiraiya was hard, but since I've been training by myself, it's been even harder! I wonder how that works..._ Naruto thought, breathing heavily and tightening his headband. He was getting that expression. The expression of sheer determination, the assurance to himself and others that he can do anything. When asked why he thought he was invincible, he give them his usual grin and his eyes would shine. _'Because I'm Naruto Uzamaki, and that is my Nindo, my ninja way! Never give up hope! Never think you can be beaten!'_

He smiled, remembering the time he was asked that by Hinata. She was so affected by his words that she was almost driven into tears. Of course Naruto still wondered why Hinata was so shy around him.

_I mean, she hasn't seen me in two years. If Sakura can get over Sasuke, then she can learn to talk to me straight instead of her face turning red and—_

That's when he realized it. "Her face turns red and... she starts to sweat." he told himself. He almost smacked himself when he figured it out. "She... likes me. She has... all this time..." The combined pressure of this realization and the fact he had been training for sixteen hours made his knees buckle, and he promptly fell to the ground. It felt good to Naruto to take a rest.

- - -

"Hinata, I need you to take this plate of food to Naruto. He hasn't eaten all day and he'll die of starvation. You know how ravenous that boy can be." Tsunade told an attentive Hinata. She was already blushing at the fact that she was picked to go see Naruto.

"Y-Yes, Tsunade, I unders-stand." she stuttered. Tsunade, like most of the village, knew how deeply Hinata felt for Naruto, and that was precisely the reason she picked her. She smiled at Hinata's pink face.

_If Sakura got Naruto, then Hinata would have no one to love._ Tsunade told herself before Hinata had arrived.

"All right, you know your orders, now get to it." Tsunade commanded Hinata in a falsely-strict tone. Hinata nodded and rushed out the door. Tsunade laughed at her willing to see Naruto.

_Good luck, Hinata._

_- - - _

Hinata arrived at Naruto's training grounds, which was no more than a small clearing in the forest, and almost died from what she saw. Her beloved Naruto was on the ground, seemingly unmoving. Her eyes shrunk a bit before she dropped the plate of food she was carrying and called out, "Naruto-kun!"

The female ninja's shout awoke Naruto, who in reality had been sleeping. He turned his head sideways while remaining on the ground, looking back to see who it was.

"Hey Hinata." he said casually, but with a bit of a sleepy tone intertwined with his always-cheerful voice. Hinata quickly rushed over to him and took him in her arms, but not without blushing because of touching Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you okay?" she asked, tears about to form in her eyes if her Naruto were to be hurt.

"Yeah I'm okay, I was training when..." he remembered the realization that had caught him off guard, but then looked into Hinata's eyes. "... when I got tired and fell over." he assured with his famous grin. Hinata showed a relieved smile, not releasing Naruto from her grasp.

"Can y-you walk?" she asked the young ninja.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt if I had a little help." Naruto said plainly. Hinata knew what this meant. She'd have to put Naruto's arm around her neck, and hers around his to steady him. She blushed deeply at this thought. She helped Naruto get to his feet, and he truly did need help standing. His training had completely wore out his muscles, and his knees were wanting to buckle again, but Hinata made sure he didn't fall over by promptly putting her hand around his shoulder and his around hers. She blushed so deeply that she couldn't help but to avoid eye-contact. After only a few minutes of walking in the awkward manner, Naruto broke the ice.

"So Hinata, what made you come and check on me?" Naruto asked Hinata, raising a questioning eyebrow. Hinata wasn't expecting Naruto to want to start a conversation and blushed slightly at his words.

"W-Well, uhm, Tsunade wanted me to bring you a p-plate of food so you wouldn't g-get hungry, Naruto-kun." Hinata replied. Naruto showed a look that was between relief and disdain.

"That all? I thought you had come on your own free will." Naruto smiled, turning his head to look at the trees and animals of the forest. Hinata then realized she had lost her first, and probably last, chance to flirt with Naruto.

It's not like she'd have the courage, anyway.

- - -

When they finally found the exit of the forest, Tsunade was there awaiting them.

"Oh, hey." Naruto said simply, seeing the village's Hokage standing before him. It wasn't really that rare that he saw Tsunade, so he didn't find it important.

"What happened?" Tsunade asked Hinata, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"N-Naruto-kun wore himself out t-training, so I had to help him walk back to the village, Hokage-sama." Hinata replied. Tsunade's face looked like a lot of worry had suddenly been sucked out of it.

"G-Good..." she stuttered, her face turning red, "I thought you guys were erm... doing something else, by the time you took to get back." Naruto laughed while Hinata blushed a darker color red than Naruto had seen before.

- - -

_Yeah, I know, it's a bit of a small first chapter, but it was more of a prologue than anything. If you're expecting Naruto and Hinata to start having sloppy makeouts in the next chapter, you're sadly mistaken. This relationship is going to develop, unlike some other Naru-Hina fan fictions I've seen._

_Oh, and there won't be any sloppy-makeouts anyways. See you next chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

Hey folks, I'm really glad that I got some reviews for the story. I'll do my best to reply to them at the beginning of each chapter, so you don't feel like I've ignored you :D.

love comes and goes: You do have a point, but I really don't think there'll be any of that in this story .

Uzumaki Hinata7: Glad you like the fic, and I'm glad you're gonna keep reading.

darkgirl4.0: Thanks for your review and I hope you'll stay tuned .

Everyone: Thank you for reading, and I'd really like it if you'd leave a comment. Let the second chapter begin!

- - -

"Wow Tsunade-baa-chan, you can be a real perve sometimes. You and the old pervy sage should get together sometime." Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head at the thought of such an odd couple. The response Naruto got wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"V-Very funny... Naruto." Tsunade said, her face turning a distinct color of red while she gritted her teeth. She kept her cool— something she didn't do very often. She proceeded to brush a strand of hair from her fierce eyes as she continued what she was going to say. "Naruto, Hinata, I have come to greet you for another purpose as well," she told them, and she received curious glares from Hinata and Naruto. "You have been chosen, along with your fellow ninja Shikamaru, to go on a simple mission to retrieve a missing scroll from inside the forest."

"Well, it might help if we knew how it went missing." Naruto said, rather sarcastically. He grinned when he got a glare from the female Hokage.

"Ugh, Naruto, sometimes you wear my patience thin. Anyway, Sound Ninja stole it. It doesn't contain any important jutsu, but we still need it back. It is rightfully our village's, so it should remain here." Tsunade said, her voice getting calmer as she spoke. Naruto grinned again while Hinata nodded obediently.

"You got it, Tsunade." Naruto smiled, giving his Hokage a thumbs-up. Hinata blushed at Naruto's enthusiasm, it was moments like this that made her feel even more attracted to him.

- - -

Meanwhile, Naruto had regained the feeling in his legs and was nearly recovered. Hinata was watching Naruto stretch from a spot on a nearby log. She admired his strong will and strong body, and she loved the passion that was now nestled in his sparkling blue eyes. She blushed when he noticed her looking at him, but he pretended not to notice. _Looks like I was right. She does like me,_ he thought to himself. Having finished stretching, the young shinobi drew in a long breath of fresh air, smiling at the afternoon sun which was so gracefully lighting up his figure. After a moment of silence, a familiar voice echoed through the entrance of the forest.

"You know Naruto, sometimes you can be a real drag to find." Shikamaru sighed as Naruto patted him on the back. Shikamaru truly was happy to see his blonde friend again, but he was just too mad at being assigned a mission to retrieve a _worthless _scroll.

"You know Shikamaru, if you don't grin or smile sometimes, your face is gonna get stuck in that same frown... if it already hasn't." Naruto laughed, and that received another frown from Shikamaru and a small giggle from Hinata.

"Well, w-we'd better get going on this mission, N-Naruto-kun. We don't want to get Tsunade m-mad at us." Hinata informed, and she received a nod from both Naruto and Shikamaru. They made sure they had all of their weapons, just in case of a surprise attack, and then were quickly off, making a quick pace through the dense, dark forest. Naruto began whistling a tune, Shikamaru played with shadows to keep himself amused, and Hinata gave that same stare to Naruto, which he remained, almost naturally, oblivious to.

- - -

"The demon-boy is approaching with a group of ninja." the first of five figures in a tree said quietly. His face was rugged from years of battle, his voice cold and deep. A feminine voice rang next.

"Great. They took the bait and will be upon us in seconds." she said, her figure much more delicate and curved, her voice chiming like leaves falling from an autumn tree. As Naruto and the group walked by, a shuriken grazed Naruto's ear. He looked at the area the projectile came from, but it was too late. The group of Sound Ninja were upon them before any of them could blink.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked in a shout, knowing he could have lost his life merely seconds before.

"Your death." the female one snickered, throwing a mass of shuriken at Hinata, who was trembling at the sight of five deadly Sound Ninja in front of her.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, jumping in front of the shuriken, all of them jabbing into him. He didn't cry out or shout, all he could remember before passing out were Hinata's cries of, "Naruto-kun!"

- - -

When Naruto's eyes opened, he was in Tsunade's office, sprawled out on a sofa. He was covered in blankets and his entire torso was bandaged, with twangs of pain overcoming him every few seconds. His half-lidded eyes looked around the room for anyone who may be nearby.

"Oh, Naruto, you're awake." Tsunade greeted Naruto with a smile, relieved to see the young ninja was okay. Shikamaru and Hinata entered the room from behind her, and Hinata ran to Naruto's side with a look of worry forming in her eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun are you all right? Are you in p-pain?" she asked, stuttering out of worry instead of shyness. Tears were already streaming from her eyes down her cheeks. Naruto wished she wouldn't cry like that. "Naruto-kun... you could have died because of me!" she cried, more tears falling down her now-tearstained cheeks. Naruto shined a reassuring smile.

"Hinata, it's okay. I'll be fine, you shouldn't worry like that. Look at Shikamaru, he could care less." Naruto joked, still managing a small laugh. A small "humph" was heard from Shikamaru's direction. "So what happened? How did you guys fend off those sound ninja?" he asked.

"Shikamaru took them down with ease with his shadow-manipulation jutsu. They snapped like toothpicks." Tsunade laughed, rustling Naruto's hair. "You're free to go when you feel like it, your wounds are nearly healed." Naruto nodded at the Hokage, "Right, just give me some time to dress first." he said, realizing he was in a pair of light blue pajamas. Tsunade nodded and ushered the others out to give Naruto some privacy.

- - -

Naruto quickly walked outside and noticed Hinata leaned up against the building, still crying. He wanted to comfort her more than anything, so he put a hand on her shoulder. She, of course, blushed deeply because of being touched by Naruto but kept on sobbing.

"Hinata... I told you it's okay. I'm fine. If I was worried about _me_ getting hurt, I wouldn't have done what I did." he comforted her.

"You... were w-worried about me?" Hinata asked between sobs.

"Of course! I would hate myself if I let you die!" Naruto said, his eyes lighting up with those words. Hinata's eyes regained a sheen as she hugged Naruto, crying into his chest. He put his arms around her, trying to get her to calm down.

"Naruto... you're a hero. The village would be nothing without you; you brought Sasuke back, you risk your life everyday for us, you're the perfect ninja." she said, her voice muffled by his chest.

"I'm not perfect... I'm just a man, not a hero." Naruto told the Hyuga girl.

"You're my hero, Naruto-kun." she said, tightening her grip on the man of her dreams.

- - -

And there it goes, the second chapter is complete. It will be about a week until the next chapter, seeing as I will be out of town. But rest assured there will be another chapter once I get back! Until then, have a great week!


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry it took so long guys, but I've had some... other matters to take care of over the past few weeks, but here it is! The grand finale of "No More Secrets!"_

Feedback to Readers

Snow Astrum, DelinquentDuo, love comes and goes: Thank you guys and I'm glad you liked the story!

Sassyanimegirl: Well, hopefully you didn't think the relationship devolepes too quickly in this chapter :D

Theteacher: Yes, I agree, NaruHina is an excellent pairing.

Kumo Shinobi: Glad you think I'm pulling it off well.

So without further ado, the final chapter of "No More Secrets".

- - -

"Y-Your hero?" Naruto stuttered. Hinata's words affected him; he had never seen or heard anyone show any compassion or admiration towards him. What was this feeling he was having? It seemed right that Hinata was in his arms, that she worried about him, that he... was her hero. Thoughts ran through his mind like thousands of blazing kurenai, filling him with a passion, an emotion, he had never really felt before. His eyes glowed before he gave Hinata a solemn smile and brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Well then I'm glad to be your hero, Hinata."

Hinata's eyes widened, what was he saying? As his finger traced her cheeks, her body shivered, although against the chest of her Naruto she felt so warm. She felt protected. She didn't notice as Naruto leaned in closer, his lips about to touch hers when...

"Atchoo!" Hinata sneezed, right into Naruto's face, much to his disdain.

"Gah!" Naruto said, taking a few steps back and wiping his eyes. "What was that, Hinata?" he asked, suddenly annoyed that the moment had been ruined.

"A sneeze, you idiot." said a voice from behind Naruto. Shikamaru approached the duo casually, hands in his pockets and with his usual half-lidded eyes. "Just came to remind you guys that the big Konoha Fireworks show is tonight."

"What's the occasion?" Naruto asked, curiously. Shikamaru grinned.

"You of all people should know that, Naruto. Today is your birthday, October 13."

"What? Already? But I didn't even realize it, I mean why didn't anyone tell me and—"

"Stop your troublesome jabbering, Naruto. This is going to be the biggest celebration of the year. You deserve it." Shikamaru said, suddenly turning around and walking away. He threw a hand up in the air to wave goodbye as he shouted back to the pair. "Remember, tonight right at the edge of the forest, near the big hill, all right?."

"I'll be there, Shikamaru! Will you be going too, Hinata?" Naruto asked, turning around to face the purple-haired Hyuga. She was too embarrased from sneezing in his face to talk, but she twiddled her fingers and nodded.

- - -

Naruto's day went by terribly slow. He didn't really have anything to do, and if he overexerted himself, his wounds would hurt. "So there goes training." he sighed. He spent the most of his day laying in his bed in his apartment, thinking about the happenings of that day.

_What was that feeling I had... and why did I almost... oh no... am I... in love?_

Naruto's eyes widened, and then his face got softer. His eyes flickered for a moment before a small smile crept onto his face.

"So that's how it is, huh? And on my birthday, at that." he laughed, his half lidded eyes getting heavier as he drifted into the land of sleep.

- - -

"Naruto! Naruto!" came voices from outside his apartment, waking him up. It was sunset, and he was about to be late for his own party. "Naruto, get out here! We're about to head out for the party!" came a voice.

"Ugh, Alright, I'll be there in a sec." Naruto yawned, wiping his eyes as he headed out the door.

"What were you doing, idiot?" Sakura asked, her face flushed with anger.

"Uh... hehe, sleeping." Naruto replied with a completely innocent grin on his face. Sakura stayed quiet but sill looked angry. Several of his fellow shinobi took the oppurtunity to greet the young ninja and wish him a happy birthday on the way to the party, and when they made it to the grounds, Hinata approached him.

"U-uhm... Happy Birthday, N-Naruto-kun." she said, her eyes finding the ground.

"Hey, thanks Hinata, it means a lot." Naruto grinned, holding up a peace-sign. This got a blush and a small smile from Hinata, who twiddled her fingers again. "Let's go have fun, Hinata! Kakashi's cooking some burgers and I'm sure Ino and Sakura have gotten into a fight by now!" he laughed merrily, grabbing Hinata's hand, which caused her to blush even more. Sure enough, Sakura and Ino were in a scrabble about who would get the first slice of Naruto's cake, which Jiraiya quickly ended by saying it would go to Naruto. The blonde haired shinobi and Hinata approached Naruto's former sensei, Kakashi.

"Smells great, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto smiled, sniffing the burgers and hotdogs.

"I'm not your sensei anymore, Naruto." Kakashi said calmly, reading the latest of Jiraiya's books, _Makeout Murder_.

"Old habit, I guess. So, when's the food gonna be done?" Naruto asked, trying to sneak a hand onto a burger, which Kakashi promptly smacked out of the way.

"Be patient Naruto, I know your hunger isn't even matched by that of a ravenous shark, but you could at least show a little humility." Kakashi said, yawning as he sat back in the chair he was sitting in and delving deeper into his book. Naruto gave him a sharp look before turning around to a blushing Hinata, who was staring at her hand in Naruto's.

"Uh... what's wrong, Hinata?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Hinata was taken by surprise by his voice, and squealing, squeezing his hand.

"Oh n-nothing, Naruto-k-kun." she said, trembling the slightest bit. He gave her his famous smile and ran up to the edge of the hill, where you could see over all of Konoha. He squeezed her hand gently, making her face turn entirely ruby-red. "The fireworks are about to start."

"Cue the lights!" Jiraiya said, as Iruka lit a match.

"Cue the sound!" Jiraiya ordered again, as Iruka lit the stem of the ungodly amount of fireworks, which began to sizzle.

"Cue the action!" Jiraiya shouted, a child-like grin on his face as the fireworks burst into the air, exploding in several magnificent colors, lighting the sky in benevolent shades of blue, red, pink, white, gold, and purple. All of the Shinobi's eyes, even Tsunade's, flickered with amazement with the utter excitement of the fireworks. Everyone around besides Hinata and Naruto began singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday dea—" but neither of the two shinobi heard them over the firewoks. The two took a seat on the edge of the hill, their legs hanging off. While Hinata was amazed with the dazzling light show, Naruto leaned to Hinata and whispered in her ear, "Don't sneeze this time."

"W-What are you talking abo—" Hinata asked, but as soon as she turned to face Naruto, his lips met hers, as the grand finale of the fireworks shot up: a dazzling swirl of purples and oranges, matching the setting sun as Naruto broke the kiss to utter four special words.

"Hinata, I love you." he uttered simply, and Hinata blinked as tears streamed down her cheaks, it was like today was her birthday too.

"I love you so much, Naruto-kun!" she gasped, clinging on to him, wishing the moment would never end as their lips met once more, and the final chorus of the song came.

"Happy Birthday dear Naruto, Happy Birthday to you..."


End file.
